Race Report: Brazen Almost New Year's Eve 10k
Goal going in was to beat 1:15:00 for a qualifying PoT for the Star Wars Challenge. (BLUF: succeeded by 2 minutes)
Weather was a bit on the chilly side - about 40 when we left the house, probably not that much warmer than that at the race. Good running weather, though - clear and not too windy.
We arrived just as the half marathon was starting, which gave us 20 minutes to get over to the starting line for the 10k. Daughter and I were running the 10k, wife and younger son were running the 5k, which started 15 minutes after the 10k. This was a repeat for all of us except me - I did the 5k last year.
The race is at Quarry Lake Regional Recreation Area, in Fremont CA. The 5k loops around the central lake; the 10k and half do the same loop, but add one or two out-and-back sections along nearby trails. The whole course is quite flat - the 10k elevation change is +/- 121 feet. (They also do a full marathon here in April, BQ-compliant and similarly flat.)
My plan was to aim for an 11:00 to 11:30 pace, with the intent that that would give me a bit of slack for water stops and walking. I intended to drop to a walk every 2 miles or so.
As we were getting ready to start, I realized I'd forgotten my water bottle at home. Oops. I'd have to rely on the 3 water stops on the course.
Pace was in flux for the first half-mile as the field spread out. I ended up settling on a pace of about 11:00 for the first couple miles, then dropped to a walk for a minute or two before starting up again. I was really feeling it by mile 3, and my pace was flagging a bit.
One thing that I was noticing and appreciating - my watch's GPS was tracking very close to the official distance markers. This was a new experience for me, as the phone GPS tended to gain up to a fifth of a mile between mile markers. Instead, I was hitting the mile marks at .98 or .99 on the watch. This kept me confident in my pacing.
I hit the turnaround on the out-and-back at just under 3.5, and things improved from here. I waved at my daughter as she passed the mile 3 marker, then dropped to a walk for a couple minutes at mile 4.
4.5 or so was the final water stop, and we got back onto the loop around the lake. I felt a bit of a struggle keeping my pace above 12:00, but managed it.
Final time was 1:12:58, a pace of 11:46. This is the fastest I've done a 10k since before my daughter was born.
Splits (per Strava): 10:43, 11:07, 12:10, 11:30, 12:34, 11:39, 11:09 (final 0.2 mi).
Wife and son had better 5k runs than last year - wife beat her time by almost 16 minutes, and son beat his by 13 and a half. Daughter had a slower 10k run by about 12 minutes. (I ran the 5k last year and 10k this year, so don't have a direct comparison, but I ran with my son last year in the 5k at a 19:03 pace...did a bit better than that this year.)
Overall, very very pleased. I've already submitted the time to runDisney, so hopefully I'll get bumped up to corral E.
This race is paired with a New Year's Day race, which we aren't doing this year because we fly to Orlando on the morning of the 2nd. I expect to get back to running after we return on the 10th.